Dealing with Apostates

When the Verse: 'It is those who believe and confuse not their belief
with wrong (i.e., worshipping others besides Allah): (6.82) was
revealed, it became very hard on the companions of the Prophet and
they said, "Who among us has not confused his belief with wrong
(oppression)?" On that, Allah's Apostle said, "This is not meant (by
the Verse). Don't you listen to Luqman's statement: 'Verily! Joining
others in worship with Allah is a great wrong indeed.' (31.13)

The Prophet. said, "The biggest of the great sins are: To join others
in worship with Allah, to be undutiful to one's parents, and to give a
false witness." He repeated it thrice, or said, "....a false
statement," and kept on repeating that warning till we wished he would
stop saying it. (See Hadith No.7, Vol. 8)

A bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! What are
the biggest sins?: The Prophet said, "To join others in worship with
Allah." The bedouin said, "What is next?" The Prophet said, "To be
undutiful to one's parents." The bedouin said "What is next?" The
Prophet said "To take an oath 'Al-Ghamus." The bedouin said, "What is
an oath 'Al-Ghamus'?" The Prophet said, "The false oath through which
one deprives a Muslim of his property (unjustly)."

A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we be punished for what we did
in the Prelslamic Period of ignorance?" The Prophet said, "Whoever
does good in Islam will not be punished for what he did in the
Pre-lslamic Period of ignorance and whoever does evil in Islam will be
punished for his former and later (bad deeds)."

Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to 'Ali and he burnt them. The
news of this event, reached Ibn 'Abbas who said, "If I had been in his
place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's Apostle forbade it,
saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I
would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Apostle,
'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'"

Abu Musa said, "I came to the Prophet along with two men (from the
tribe) of Ash'ariyin, one on my right and the other on my left, while
Allah's Apostle was brushing his teeth (with a Siwak), and both men
asked him for some employment. The Prophet said, 'O Abu Musa (O
'Abdullah bin Qais!).' I said, 'By Him Who sent you with the Truth,
these two men did not tell me what was in their hearts and I did not
feel (realize) that they were seeking employment.' As if I were
looking now at his Siwak being drawn to a corner under his lips, and
he said, 'We never (or, we do not) appoint for our affairs anyone who
seeks to be employed. But O Abu Musa! (or 'Abdullah bin Qais!) Go to
Yemen.'" The Prophet then sent Mu'adh bin Jabal after him and when
Mu'adh reached him, he spread out a cushion for him and requested him
to get down (and sit on the cushion). Behold: There was a fettered man
beside Abu Muisa. Mu'adh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Muisa said,
"He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism."
Then Abu Muisa requested Mu'adh to sit down but Mu'adh said, "I will
not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah
and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa
ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Abu Musa added,
"Then we discussed the night prayers and one of us said, 'I pray and
sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as well as
for my prayers.'"

When the Prophet died and Abu Bakr became his successor and some of
the Arabs reverted to disbelief, 'Umar said, "O Abu Bakr! How can you
fight these people although Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been ordered
to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be
worshipped but Allah, 'and whoever said, 'None has the right to be
worshipped but Allah', Allah will save his property and his life from
me, unless (he does something for which he receives legal punishment)
justly, and his account will be with Allah?' "Abu Bakr said, "By
Allah! I will fight whoever differentiates between prayers and Zakat
as Zakat is the right to be taken from property (according to Allah's
Orders). By Allah! If they refused to pay me even a kid they used to
pay to Allah's Apostle, I would fight with them for withholding it."
'Umar said, "By Allah: It was nothing, but I noticed that Allah opened
Abu Bakr's chest towards the decision to fight, therefore I realized
that his decision was right."

A Jew passed by Allah's Apostle and said, "As-Samu 'Alaika." Allah's
Apostle said in reply, "We 'Alaika." Allah's Apostle then said to his
companions, "Do you know what he (the Jew) has said? He said, 'As-Samu
'Alaika.'" They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we kill him?" The
Prophet, said, "No. When the people of the Book greet you, say: 'Wa
'Alaikum.'"

A group of Jews asked permission to visit the Prophet (and when they
were admitted) they said, "As-Samu 'Alaika (Death be upon you)." I
said (to them), "But death and the curse of Allah be upon you!" The
Prophet said, "O 'Aisha! Allah is kind and lenient and likes that one
should be kind and lenient in all matters." I said, "Haven't you heard
what they said?" He said, "I said (to them), 'Wa 'Alaikum (and upon
you).

As if I am looking at the Prophet while he was speaking about one of
the prophets whose people have beaten and wounded him, and he was
wiping the blood off his face and saying, "O Lord! Forgive my, people
as they do not know."

Whenever I tell you a narration from Allah's Apostle, by Allah, I
would rather fall down from the sky than ascribe a false statement to
him, but if I tell you something between me and you (not a Hadith)
then it was indeed a trick (i.e., I may say things just to cheat my
enemy). No doubt I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "During the last days
there will appear some young foolish people who will say the best
words but their faith will not go beyond their throats (i.e. they will
have no faith) and will go out from (leave) their religion as an arrow
goes out of the game. So, where-ever you find them, kill them, for
who-ever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection."

That they visited Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri and asked him about
Al-Harauriyya, a special unorthodox religious sect, "Did you hear the
Prophet saying anything about them?" Abu Sa'id said, "I do not know
what Al-Harauriyya is, but I heard the Prophet saying, "There will
appear in this nation---- he did not say: From this nation ---- a
group of people so pious apparently that you will consider your
prayers inferior to their prayers, but they will recite the Quran, the
teachings of which will not go beyond their throats and will go out of
their religion as an arrow darts through the game, whereupon the
archer may look at his arrow, its Nasl at its Risaf and its Fuqa to
see whether it is blood-stained or not (i.e. they will have not even a
trace of Islam in them)."

While the Prophet was distributing (something, 'Abdullah bin Dhil
Khawaisira At-Tamimi came and said, "Be just, O Allah's Apostle!" The
Prophet said, "Woe to you ! Who would be just if I were not?" 'Umar
bin Al-Khattab said, "Allow me to cut off his neck ! " The Prophet
said, " Leave him, for he has companions, and if you compare your
prayers with their prayers and your fasting with theirs, you will look
down upon your prayers and fasting, in comparison to theirs. Yet they
will go out of the religion as an arrow darts through the game's body
in which case, if the Qudhadh of the arrow is examined, nothing will
be found on it, and when its Nasl is examined, nothing will be found
on it; and then its Nadiyi is examined, nothing will be found on it.
The arrow has been too fast to be smeared by dung and blood. The sign
by which these people will be recognized will be a man whose one hand
(or breast) will be like the breast of a woman (or like a moving piece
of flesh). These people will appear when there will be differences
among the people (Muslims)." Abu Sa'id added: I testify that I heard
this from the Prophet and also testify that 'Ali killed those people
while I was with him. The man with the description given by the
Prophet was brought to 'Ali. The following Verses were revealed in
connection with that very person (i.e., 'Abdullah bin Dhil-Khawaisira
At-Tarnimi): 'And among them are men who accuse you (O Muhammad) in
the matter of (the distribution of) the alms.' (9.58)

I asked Sahl bin Hunaif, "Did you hear the Prophet saying anything
about Al-Khawarij?" He said, "I heard him saying while pointing his
hand towards Iraq. "There will appear in it (i.e, Iraq) some people
who will recite the Quran but it will not go beyond their throats, and
they will go out from (leave) Islam as an arrow darts through the
game's body.' "

When the Verse:--'Those who believe and did not confuse their belief
with wrong (worshipping others besides Allah).' (6.82) was revealed,
it was hard on the companions of the Prophet and they said, "Who among
us has not wronged (oppressed) himself?" Allah's Apostle said, "The
meaning of the Verse is not as you think, but it is as Luqman said to
his son, 'O my son! Join not in worship others with Allah, Verily!
Joining others in worship with Allah is a great wrong indeed.'"
(31.13)

Once Allah's Apostle came to me in the morning, and a man among us
said, "Where is Malik bin Ad-Dukhshun?" Another man from us replied,
"He is a hypocrite who does not love Allah and His Apostle." The
Prophet said, "Don't you think that he says: None has the right to be
worshipped but Allah, only for Allah's sake?" They replied, "Yes" The
Prophet said, "Nobody will meet Allah with that saying on the Day of
Resurrection, but Allah will save him from the Fire."

Abu 'Abdur-Rahman and Hibban bin 'Atiyya had a dispute. Abu
'Abdur-Rahman said to Hibban, "You know what made your companions
(i.e. Ali) dare to shed blood." Hibban said, "Come on! What is that?"
'Abdur-Rahman said, "Something I heard him saying." The other said,
"What was it?" 'AbdurRahman said, "'Ali said, Allah's Apostle sent for
me, Az-Zubair and Abu Marthad, and all of us were cavalry men, and
said, 'Proceed to Raudat-Hajj (Abu Salama said that Abu 'Awana called
it like this, i.e., Hajj where there is a woman carrying a letter from
Hatib bin Abi Balta'a to the pagans (of Mecca). So bring that letter
to me.' So we proceeded riding on our horses till we overtook her at
the same place of which Allah's Apostle had told us. She was traveling
on her camel. In that letter Hatib had written to the Meccans about
the proposed attached of Allah's Apostle against them. We asked her,
"Where is the letter which is with you?' She replied, 'I haven't got
any letter.' So we made her camel kneel down and searched her luggage,
but we did not find anything. My two companions said, 'We do not think
that she has got a letter.' I said, 'We know that Allah's Apostle has
not told a lie.'"

Then 'Ali took an oath saying, "By Him by Whom one should swear! You
shall either bring out the letter or we shall strip off your clothes."
She then stretched out her hand for her girdle (round her waist) and
brought out the paper (letter). They took the letter to Allah's
Apostle. 'Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! (Hatib) has betrayed Allah,
His Apostle and the believers; let me chop off his neck!" Allah's
Apostle said, "O Hatib! What obliged you to do what you have done?"
Hatib replied, "O Allah's Apostle! Why (for what reason) should I not
believe in Allah and His Apostle? But I intended to do the (Mecca)
people a favor by virtue of which my family and property may be
protected as there is none of your companions but has some of his
people (relatives) whom Allah urges to protect his family and
property." The Prophet said, "He has said the truth; therefore, do not
say anything to him except good." 'Umar again said, "O Allah's
Apostle! He has betrayed Allah, His Apostle and the believers; let me
chop his neck off!" The Prophet said, "Isn't he from those who fought
the battle of Badr? And what do you know, Allah might have looked at
them (Badr warriors) and said (to them), 'Do what you like, for I have
granted you Paradise?' " On that, 'Umar's eyes became flooded with
tears and he said, "Allah and His Apostle know best."